


Nada

by fresne



Category: Australian Mythology, Hindu Mythology
Genre: Cat2, Dragons, Gen, OMG I wrote a lot of dialog with no descriptions as a baby writer, Original Story - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 1989-05-06
Updated: 1989-05-06
Packaged: 2017-12-22 15:06:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/914668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fresne/pseuds/fresne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which great journeys are made by dragons and the earth changes over. </p><p>Everything changes and sheds its skin eventually.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nada

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in college as part of a project to write a series of stories that combined many mythologies (always my interest) through various ages of spirits and dragons and shape changers etc. Mainly, it was about surrounding a map of Elfland (what I went to a school with more trees than buildings) in special collections at the library, which we eventually did. Try to imagine this story as in a folio, hand bound with a red coptic stitch with two oak covers. With hand painted illuminations.
> 
> I'm posting this more as an exercise in evolution. I can see traces of how I write now. Also, hmmm... evolution. In any case, if you've come to read this, well, some day, I'll post the high school writing. I do wish I still had the Barsoom fic I wrote in 3rd grade. I'm sure it was hilarious. Then again, when I got up to read it, I decided it wasn't interesting enough and added spontaneous unicorns, so maybe not.
> 
> In any case, I have left this as is. Albeit with less binding and hand painting with water colors using match sticks.
> 
> I'd like to leave a citation for the inspiration for my work and inspiration for my dialogue, but at this point, I can't recall which original source works I read with Aboriginal folk tales, but unremembered, they still hold the inspiration.

  
The world dreams itself and the sun rises to create a new day. 

The sun and the water play upon the back of the rainbow serpent our sister, in whose dream we dwell.

Each day the sun rose over the Djibija Plains and each day was the same as before or so it seemed to Nada as she shed her skin with the passing of each winter. She watched the warm dawn winds rush to bring new days that were just like the ones that had gone before them and Nada wished something would change. She often flew until her wings ached with fire to see if she could find something different, but the plains stretched on, flat as the world. Sometimes she could stay away as long as it took for the moon to grow fat, but she would grow tired of silence and return to the comfort of her people, who dwelt in the rocks above the lake of the Wanambis. For a time she would hunt and play the games of her people with her hatchmates, but always the wind would call and the fires in her hearts would long for something different. She often thought that she should fly across the plains and join a new people, that their blood might be enriched, but she loved her hatchmates and her friends and told herself that the females of the Wanambis line always remained with their people. 

She thought so much of change that she did not notice when the world began to dream itself anew. The Wandijina spirits walked the land and each year brought more rain and cold, which froze the soil. The warm dawn winds grew fierce and no longer played with the grass of the Djibija Plains. Each year fewer of the hatchlings crept from their shells and fewer survived the years to adulthood. 

And yet, Nada continued to seek change elsewhere.

One day she flew towards the south to see what she could find. On the sixth day of her journey, she came to a strange white mountain that when she touched its surface, her skin burned like fire and then grew numb. Nada became frightened that she would not be able to feel her wings and fly home. 

Nada jumped into the air and more quickly than she could see, a small white blur flew past her belly tearing it open with its talons. Nada focused on it and saw that it was one of her people, yet not of her people, white like the mountain and small. "Why do you attack me like meat," she said, "I would not hurt a child." 

The little white one hovered in the air before her, "I am no child, but a man grown, and I will fight with you for this land. Though you are larger than any dragon I have ever seen, I am faster. You stand out like fire on the ice and are easy to see yellow dragon. I will kill you and your blood will burn all of the ice of this place unless you leave my land now." 

Nada spread her wings to catch the updraft and began to circle the strange little person, "I do not understand you. Why should you wish to live alone? There is enough land to share with all. Do you not long for the sound of other voices?" Nada tilted her wings so she could face this small strange dragon. "I am Nada of the Wanambis. What is your name and who are your people?" 

"You speak like an idiot." said the white dragon, "There is only enough land for me. I Tam of no people, for there are no people, only families who raise their children on what little food there is. Now with the growing ice, I claim this land for my mate, who lies nearby willing to kill you if you come near our child. Now leave or I will kill you and eat your soft heart and feed your yellow flesh to my son and wife that its fire might keep them warm this winter." 

"Tam, I don't want to hurt you." 

"Then you will die." Tam rushed at Nada's wing, his fore claws extended, seeking to rend the tissue of her skin. 

Nada danced away on the wind, for her people often played tag in the sky, but this was different. Dragons who fought others of their kind were driven from the company of the people and soon died of loneliness. Tam fought to be alone, to own the earth, to hurt. Nada had never met such a creature. It was difficult to stay ahead of Tam, for he was very fast and his claws often shredded her skin. Nada tried to fly away and Tam snapped at her wing with his teeth. Nada felt the skin of her right wing tear and knew she would have to fight or she would be unable to fly. 

Nada said, "I am sorry Tam." and struck him with her tail, strong from much flying. The horn ridges of her tail dug into his white flesh, drawing blood. As he reeled off to the side, Nada began to fly home. Her blood dripped from her body onto the ice. However, she did not stop to rest until she could no longer hear sounds of Tam's victory cries. 

It was the sound of mourning wails which greeted her when she returned to the hatching place of her people. Her brother, Huroo, flew up to meet her. "Nada," he said, "You havtacome." He flew to her other side, "Where have you been?" He flew under her, "This is the longest you have ever stayed away. Everyone has been asking for you." As always when talking to Huroo, it was difficult for Nada get in a word edgewise. 

However, as they landed in the place of meeting Nada managed to ask, "What is going on? Why is everyone crying?" 

"Can't you see the hatching place." he said, "Numada's eggs are rotted. And then Jayula said that we have had only three hatchlings born in ten star cycles. And then Jeridu said that it has been since the fattening of the moon that any of the people has caught any large game, and before that it was scarce. And I am very hungry. And I heard someone say that the land is dying and that the world is going to end! Do you think think the world is going to end. I think the world is ending. I think..." 

"Nonsense," Nada interrupted her brother, "Who said that? Julu I'll bet. He always had mud for brains." Yet, Nada shivered in the cold air. 

All of her people were gathered in the place of meeting listening to Jayula, the oldest of her people. As if she had shed skin from her eyes, Nada noticed for the first time the lack of children among the people, and the gauntness of everyone's bellies. She noticed how different the air seemed from the warmth of her childhood. 

Nada settled into the crowd, but Jayula saw her and called to her, "Nada come here. I must speak to you the decision of the people." Nada walked across the yellow sand, which burnt the new healed flesh on her belly. When Nada stood in front of her, Jayula said, "Nada we have decided that we must leave this place." 

"But this is the place where we have always lived!" Nada could hear voices agreeing with her. Jayula laughed, "I'm surprised, while there are some I would expect to say such things," Jayula looked at Guwara, who nipped at one of his wings, "but you Nada, you have always wanted to fly elsewhere. The world changes and we must change with it. We cannot stay in a place where food grows scarce and our children die. You have flown the farthest of all our people and know the ways north. You must show us the way north." 

"I have not gone that far!" Nada tried to suppress the squeak in her voice. 

Jayula picked at the place where one of her teeth was missing and Nada lowered her head to touch the sand. Jayula said, "Not far is better than not at all. You will need to leave soon, before the coming of the winter storms. " 

Nada scratched her head into the sand, "I'm not ready to go." 

Jayula sighed, "If you are not ready daughter of my daughter, I am sorry. Because you will have to be ready. I am too old for this journey and too large to be carried between your teeth like a child. However, I know that you have not the desire of the crowd within you. It must be Julu who leads and you who shows the way, for alone you would neglect the past and he would get lost."   
Nada could hear Julu snorting in the background. She was silent for a long time and then lifted her head and blinked her eyes, "Then I say we leave tomorrow mother of my mother and may you never be alone." She turned to her people. "Who goes with us?" 

One by one they stepped forward. All of her hatchmates: Aylupa, the first to hatch, Jana, whose skin was dun, Maban, whose claws were always sharp, Jeridu, whose sides were strong, for he was a good hunter, and Huroo, who always flew ahead. Then came most of the get of Njida - who died of a cough earlier that year, Wura, who knew the tales, Julu, who spoke the law, and Wadju, whose skin was pale as sand. Then Marindi and her get who were barely past their tenth skins came next. Then Garhain whose right wing was crooked from where it was broken by a Borarin's tail. Ngaii of the Nawindjin, Mabda who had flown Marindi. Numada who had no children came last. 

Then Guwara stopped his grooming and said, "There have been early winters before and they have passed and there have been years when the children did not hatch as they should. But there will be warm summers again, as there will be more children. It is foolishness to speak of leaving. But if you fools wish to leave, then we are well rid of you. And I and my get will inherit the place of our ancestors, for we are truly the people of the Wanambis. Who stands with me."   
And so they moved to stand beside him. Auri, who Guwara had flown, with her get who were in their twentieth skin, and Oen, whose eyes were dim came forward. Then the rest of the get of Njida, who died of a cough earlier that year: Abla, who hatched first, Nerri, whose skin shone, and Waku, whose voice was strong. Among the others who came forward were: Mawurra, whose tail could fell the strongest of animals. Dja, whose flights were long, and her get: Ina, whose wings were small and weak, Patua, who hunted to feed his sister, and Dilagu, who ate only Borarin. Auradi, who was from the people of the Billa. Mulga, whose get had left to form a new people when Nada was in her sixth skin. Kultuwa came last, for he was old and no longer flew on the mating flights. 

Nada looked at her people, split in two, and said, "All my life I have longed for the different and never noticed that it caught me in midflight. The world grows cold to us. On my last journey I came to a mountain of white fire such as I have never seen. And I was attacked by a person that claimed no people, only the land. He said that he needed all the land, because there was not enough food and he fought and wounded me, though he was far smaller than I. I believe as the world grows colder, food will become scarce. I hope you do not become like the white dragon. 

That he was a freak. May you never be alone Guwara." 

Guwara adjusted the struts of his wings while Nada spoke and when she finished, he said, "We are not misborn children, white through the wind's joke. We are the Wanambis and are the color of the sun which is our mother. When you have done wandering, stay where you are, for we will have born too many children to have enough food for the fools who went away." 

Auri shifted in the sand and said, "As you leave the place of the Wanambis," she glanced at Guwara her mate, "by what name shall we know your people when we send for you to join in our corroborrees and eat the abundance of our game." 

Nada stood up and shivered the sand off of her skin, "We should travel under the name of Reidju, our mother the sun, rather than that of the earth who is only our sister and not even our hatchmate at that." Nada saw that Julu would have spoken, so she said, "I am tired and though we could easily trade insults far into the night, they are nothing but air and I would far rather sleep. We will leave in the morning when our uncle the moon and our mother the sun cross paths in the sky, if that pleases you Julu." 

Julu nodded at her and Nada went to her place in the cave of the Wanambis and as soon as she curled up in her bed of dry grass, she fell asleep and began to dream. 

Nada dreamt that she was flying over fields of wild grain. Behind her the full moon shone and ahead she could see the white bow of night rainbow, rare and timid cousin of the Yulunggul, the first rainbow serpent. Nada flew towards the quiet snake, and the longer she flew, the higher she went, until all detail was blurred into a white green mass. She flew higher still, until the green merged with browns and blues and the mountains became ridges on multicolored scales. Then, she flew so high that all the land lay beneath her and she saw that it lay in the shape of a great serpent tied into itself. As she watched it shifted its coils revealing the white of its underbelly and the color of its scales grew pale. 

The head of the serpent began to push its way out of the trap of its twisted body. It opened its eyes, which burned like the white mountain that Nada had touched. 

"Who are you," Nada said, "that I might honor you with a name?" 

The serpent spoke in a voice like the flood of rivers and the call of falling stars, "I am shape. I dreamed myself and am. I twist myself for comfort and bind myself tighter still." 

Nada shivered in the cold sweetness of its breath and said, "Why don't you dream yourself new."   
The serpent sighed the wind and said, "I did, I am. You are the child of my dream and you bind me with your words. All the children of my dreams bind me, and you bind me tightest yet."   
Nada circled the serpent's head in silence, for she did not want to bind the serpent further. Her flight was as long as a thousand seasons in a heartbeat. When she had done, she flew once more over the grasses, that now lay in the dark of the moon. She came to the rocks where her people lived and she awoke. 

Tired from her sleep, Nada crawled from the cave and made a meal of lizards bones left in the feeding place. She felt a shadow cross her skin, and she heard Julu say, "If you have rested enough, perhaps we could begin our journey, for the sun is setting, and we await your 'special' knowledge of the way to go." 

"img src="http://pw1.netcom.com/~fresne/snak01.gif">

Nada held her anger in her belly and said nothing to Julu, but merely walked to the place leave taking. Jayula was not there, that none might see her weep, though Guwara had come to laugh at Nada and the others. Nada turned to the group and began to speak, "The cold comes from the south, we must then fly north." She could hear Julu mutter, "What inspired wisdom!" but she continued to speak, "The plains of our people stretch on for several moons. It will be necessary to fly not only through the lands of the Djuguld, who are our cousins and will give us news, but though the lands of Ngalyod, and when we come among them, we must ask them for news of the way." 

"The ancestor spirits will strike us dead with white fire if we speak to any of the Djuguld, for it is the law that we may not mix." said Julu. 

"I am not speaking of mixing, I merely wish to ask how much game they have. Upon one of my journeys, I ventured into the territory of the Djuguld, and after many nights flight, I came to a series of mountains thick with trees. I upheld our laws and spoke with none of that people, though I longed to know how far these mountains went, and if there was food in them. Now, if we must cross them, we must learn what the Djuguld know." "We will cross nothing if we speak to the Djuguld. There are reasons for our laws, but if you must be reminded then I will speak them." said Julu, "In the beginning times, Reidju, our mother the sun flew close to the earth. First she came to the place of the banyan trees and hatched our ancestor Yulunggul, who was made of fire light and water, made to mix in Reidju's womb. 

Yulunggul hatched seven eggs, who are the people: Wanambis, Nagalyod, Djuguld, Galya, Billa, Yinganan, and Nawindjin. Yulunggul told Wanambis, and Nagalyod that they were to be as siblings and not to mate, for their children would be weak, for their spirits did not compliment. So, too she told Djuguld to Billa, and Yinganan to Nawindjin. Where spirits and ancestors match matings prove good. Children born between Wanambis, Billa, Nawindjin, or Galya are strong. So, too matings are good between Djuguld, Nagalyod, and Yinganan. Yet to each child there was another child, an opposite to which that child could not speak or deal, for the spirits that lived within them were hurtful to one another. As Wanambis to Djuguld, Nagalyod to Galya, and Billa to Yinganan, so each is hateful to the others. As, long as silence is observed, then the ancestor spirits do not notice, but with speech comes hearing, and with hearing death." 

Nada stretched a wing, "But how are we to find the way then." 

"Ngaii, who is of the Nawindjin, though he may neither mate, nor act as sibling to the Djuguld, may speak to them, and he shall speak for us." said Julu, as he picked at his teeth. 

"Far simpler than your outrage or your tale would have been to suggest that Ngaii speak in the first place, but what is said is already done. Ngaii would you be willing to speak in our stead to the Djuguld." 

Ngaii, ducked his head down near the sand, for he thought that Nada's skin was like golden grain in the moonlight, and he hoped that she would look with favor upon him when her time came to mate, "Yes, I would be willing to ask the Djuguld, whatever questions you deem fit." 

Nada ignored Julu's snort, and nodded to Ngaii, "My thanks. But the night grows shorter and it is time to fly. If you are already to leave this place, let us go." 

In silence the group took flight from the rocks, the sound of Guwara's laughter following them, and after one circle they began to fly to the North. The night passed and as the sun grew warm they came to rest in shade of a watering place. The days passed as they traveled North from the lands of the Wanambis to the lands of the Galya. They found some small herds of game, but the meat was lean and the Reidju were hungry as they flew. At first, they flew quickly, for the get of Marindi were excited to be on such a journey. But though they had strength and speed in flight, after the lean years, their endurance was not great. Nada had to hold back from flying too fast. Her wings were strong from constant flight over the years. She picked her path along the edge of the Kalgoorie Desert. She had often crossed into it, and knew that water was too scarce for so large a party. 

Each morning the Reidju journeyed until the sun reached its height and the day grew hot. Then they rested through the afternoon, as the Windijindi spirits brought dry winds to blow the sand. The adults hunted at night for what game they could find to sustain them on their journey. The only large kill they made was that of six borhain they scared from the brush as they flew.   
On the seventh day they came to the place where the Galya of Djual lived. The nests were quiet as they circled the rocks. Nada did not see many of the Galya that she had met on her earlier visits. 

As they landed, they were greeted by Djauan, who led the Galya. 

"Where is everyone." said Huroo. "There were a lot more people at the Corrombee last Ubar Long Day." 

"The last heavy rains took their due. Many died of the cough, others are too weak to fly and bring meat. So, why do so many of the Wanambis fly to the place of the Galya? This is not a time for festivals." 

"We have not come to feast." said Julu. 

"That is good for we have no feast to give you." 

"We, are no longer Wanambis, but Reidju of the Wanambis. We have left our home and go to seek a new place, where the rains do not bring death, and there is food to give our young." said Julu. 

"It is a wise thing you do. The land which rejects you should be rejected. Would that I could help you with food and directions, but there is little to eat. This day Nyung has killed two Eran and Djangauu has killed a dingo. You are welcome to share in the meat and half the bones are yours to eat. As to the way, what word I have heard is all of famine and death." 

The Reidju were quiet for a time, before Julu mumbled, "We thank you for your generosity." 

"Would that we could dance in the sky as is wanted by your visit." 

"For hospitality, let us give you something in exchange. Stories as we eat, so that our stomachs will be fooled by the slowness of our feasting." said Julu. 

"A kind offer and we accept. Who shall begin." 

Wura, who knew the tales rose to her feet and leaned back on her tail. And this the story she told. 

Yulunggul, first rainbow serpent came up out of the salt-water by the East Arnhem country. He carried a bundle of Wiwonderrer sticks, that he had taken from the Wiwonderrer. With these sticks, Yulunggul made spring-water to drink and sleep in.

He traveled into the land, flying a long ways, naming the places he saw and giving them water-holes and billabongs with his Wiwonderrer sticks. As he went, he also left the bodies of the animals who were to grow in the land and drink the water. He told each body its spirit name and its spoken name. And at Dinkarriat, near where the Kiannoo live, he left behind his Walborr stone, the source of the spirit life's dreaming. This stone was part of him, it was Yulunggul's testicle.

He still flew into the land. He stopped at Wayungari country because he could hear the sound of Colbumatuan-kurrk singing with her wind. He lay down by the river he made with his Wiwonderrer sticks. He sang to himself, "No more will I be a man, now I will be woman." And so she lay seven eggs in the sand by the river, which she named Banninggbooroo, because its body was like that snake. When each hatched she told it its spirit name and its spoken name. Each flew away to find its own place to live. Only Galya remained with Yulunggul. Yulunggul said, 

"I am finished. Here I die. My spirit is snake and rainbow fire. I will go no further than this river."

So, Galya went up the river. He named the places as he went and left the bodies of animals to fill the land. He went far into the land until he came to the far mountains. He dropped the Wiwonderrer sticks to the earth and made a pool. "I have water here, " he said, "Here I will rest."

Galya went into that water. He became rainbow. He looked around the water. It was desert and mountain, but there was water. "This is my place." said Galya. "I am Galya, child of Yulunggul, Reidju's child."

Wura stopped speaking and the Galya yelled at the honorable mentioning of their ancestor. For in the home of the Wanambis, it was Wanambis who stayed with Yulunggul. Wura sat down to a leg of the Eran, in honor of her being the first story speaker. Julu then spoke and this is the tale he told. 

Wadi Waral, Rain-falling-down, flew from the salt lands to the east toward the Uabuna river. He soaked the river and its banks rose up. With his lightening, he struck the trees and they burned even in the rain.

Then Wadi Waral heard the sound of a hatchling crying. It's mother would not feed it. She wanted to be alone. So, it cried for food, even a bit of bone to fill it's stomach.

Instead Wadi Waral flew to where that child was crying and he ate the child and he ate the mother, but still Wadi Waral was hungry. He made it rain some more and then heard the sound of singing. The Borli of Wanambis were holding a corrombee and he could hear them singing and he went to where they were. He ate them all up, the Borli of Wanambis. But there were too many of them. He tried to vomit them up, but only their scales and claws would come.

Finally Wadi Waral burst, but the Borli were still trapped inside his ribs. They were not strong and most of them turned into stones. Only the smallest could crawl out. They were soft and pale, the Borli, because they had no scales or claws. They pulled into themselves and became fish, swimming in the water that had been Wadi Waral. 

Nada laughed to hear this story, for Wura told that story so that the mother and child were vomited and became fish. So, before anyone could speak Nada began her own story. 

One day Gunwinggu lay sleeping in his billabong, and it was warm and pleasant. But he grew hungry and through the water he could hear the sound of bees making their honey and he wanted the honey.

He lay very still, and thought about how to get that honey that the bees were making. He did not want to be stung. So, he crawled up out of the water and went to the eucalyptus tree where the bees were living. He began to burn the eucalyptus tree with a bit of fire, so that it smoked, so the bees would leave and he could steal the honey.

But the bees were smart to Gunwinggu, because he had done this before, and the queen bee ordered her drones to wave their wings at the smoke and the fire went out and the smoke went away. Then the bees left the eucalyptus tree and began to chase Gunwinggu back to his billabong.

He was still hungry for sweet honey. He lay very still in the water and thought about how to get that honey that the bees were making. He decided to make it rain and cause the water to rise and frighten the bees into leaving the hive.

So, it began to rain and the valleys flooded with water and the trees began to drown. But the eucalyptus tree in which the bees lived was high on a hill, and the queen knew that it was Gunwinggu making the water rise. She also knew that if the honey mixed with water it would go bad, so there was no danger, but all the flowers were dying. The bees could not make honey if the whole world was under water.

So, she had her bees pretend to fly away, but they really hid in the branches of the eucalyptus tree. When Gunwinggu saw that the bees had gone, he let the rain stop. He crawled up out of his billabong and went to the eucalyptus tree. He reached into the hive with one claw and bees swept down out of the tree. And some of them stung Gunwinggu, but he ran away back to his billabong.

But Gunwinggu was still hungry for sweet honey. He lay still for a long time, until he really wanted that honey. He decided to start a fire that the bees couldn't put out. It would burn up to the tree, until the bees left, then he would make it rain.

So, he started his fire and it burned across the grasses and the trees which had now drowned now burned up. The Queen ordered the bees to leave the hive. One of the drones asked, "But if you know that it is Gunwinggu, why leave? He'll never hurt the hive while there's honey in it?"

"I know that." said the Queen. "I just wanted to make it hard for him, or he'd be in our tree all the time. This way he only steals honey when he really wants it. Gunwinggu keeps out all the other animals that would eat our honey. We wouldn't want him to go away because he never got any honey."

So, the bees flew away from the hive, and Gunwinggu, happy to have outwitted the bees took a clawful of honey and went back to his billabong for a nap. 

The people laughed to hear Nada's story, but not Julu. It did not matter. They told many stories more, and there was much laughter over the few bones that there was to eat. 

The Reidju of Wanambis stayed with the Galya for three days, hunting and eating meat and bones for strength in flight. The Galya told them what they knew of the way North, yet it seemed that Nada had been furthest of all. 

Wawalag, who had no get, Nyung, whose wings were great, and Guleru, who had not yet reached his full years, decided to join the Reidju, for it was fitting for Galya to marry Wanambis. 

When Nada and her people left the Galya, they flew North towards the Mountains of the Bragu, where the Djuguld dwell. Though the Djuguld were said to be people of water love, there was no water in this place. It was dry and dead. The Wandijina spirits had sucked the land dry of water in order to soak the Galya a mere seven days journey away. Ngaii could find no Djuguld with whom to speak and the land was empty of them. He told the Reidju of the empty nests and dried out lakes. It was a silent land. There were not even Kukaburra in the morning to wake Reidju for her daily flight in the sky. 

The Reidju could not long stay in this place, for there was little water upon which to live and without water it grew harder to fly. As they flew further, the land grew twisted and black, as if burned by a hundred mating flights. 

Nada said, "We must fly into and over this land until we come to a place where there is something to eat. In my past journeys, I have flown along side these mountains for over a moon and I know that they stretch beyond our reach." Julu argued with her, but it was a half hearted attempt, for he was tired. Though the bonds between the group grew as they traveled North, the petty disputes caused by fatigue were constant and Julu was often needed to recite the law. 

The Reidju were often tired and it was difficult to fly, for the bones of the animals they ate were small and weak. There was hardly enough material to feed the fires in their bellies. Garhain, whose wing had been broken, was often left to lag behind with Marindi's get, while the others flew in search of game during the days journey. Julu pronounced their luck good, when on the third day Huroo found a nest of brown grass snakes in their resting place, but the Reidju were unable to work up any joy. Numada complained bitterly over the lack of food, until Nada threatened to eat Numada's share if she would not be quiet. 

Finally they passed these mountains and came to a great green river. They rested beside it for three days and ate the animals that came to drink the water of the river. Julu named this river, Djan, for the clearness of the water. 

Yet though the river was pleasant and the meat good, there were many trees by the river and stretching beyond it. There were no rocks to nest in and the water was shallow. So, they flew on over the trees, which grew thick. They were often forced to fly over a day's time before finding a meadow or a clearing where they could rest. The trees were too thick to hunt, as was their way. 

The borhain hid beneath the trees, and though the Reidju could taste their sent upon the wind, the Reidju could not reach their meat. The Reidju ate what birds they could scare from the trees and they were all weary of travel. Nada and Julu ceased to argue. They had not the strength to do more than fly. 

Yet they continued to fly, following Nada, who had the gift of discovering clearings. She led them on a scent, though they did not know that was all she led them by. She could smell salt on the wind and it was the salt she followed. 

The scent grew strong enough for the others to smell and it gave them strength. When the moon   
had grown from thin to fat, they could finally see the great lake of blue ahead of them. The air was thick and lush. It was hot, but not as the Reidju liked the heat. It was thick with water and it was hard to breathe. But the air from the great lake was cool and they sailed into it's embrace. 

They came to the shore of the lake and rested on white sand. 

"How far do you think it goes, Nada?" said Huroo. 

"I do not know." said Nada. 

"It is the great salt lake that Yulunggul came from when he came to our land. If we cross it, we will cross into the other world." said Julu. "The land on the other side of the water is like our land. Yulunggul came from the salt of his mother's body and the salt of the egg. More importantly I do not think the land up the coast is any different." 

"Do you think it will be any hotter. I don't think I can stand much more of this heat." said Numada. 

She rustled the air with her wings, but the sun still beat down on them through the wet air. 

"We can't go on until my children recover from the forest. Look at them, they have no flesh. To fly any further would be to eat their own bones." said Marindi, and in truth her get and all the Reidju's skin was taunt and their eyes glittered strange. 

Then they turned to the sound of Huroo vomiting. They clustered around him, to his shame, when he had done, he said, "It was the water. I was so thirsty that I drank it. But it is not good water. It tasted sharp. It made me sick." 

"How will we live if we cannot have water." said Numada. The Reidju began to speak excitedly.   
"Silence." said Julu. "The legends tell us what to do. They speak of the salt lake, which is not a womb or an egg, but a lake greater than we have seen, that crosses beyond experience. The legends also tell of the rivers that the first ones made on their travels from the great salt lake. 

They dug many such rivers which flow from the salt lake. We have but to fly up the coast and we will find water to drink given to us by our ancestors." 

Gradually, the Reidju were made calm by Julu's words. And when the wind had cooled them, they again rose in its embrace. They flew North, over the white sand. It was not long into the day that they found a river stretching out to the salt water. They flew above it until the water became pure and they drank from it, naming it Winggul for the purity of the waters. 

"We have drunk of the water. But where are we going? The rest of the world is trees or water. 

We cannot cross the water to the next world. We cannot live in the trees. Had I known that you would lead me to such a place, I would never have come." said Numada. 

"Well, we wouldn't have missed you." said Huroo. "Nada and Julu have done very well to lead us here. We are not back in the rain dying of cough. We have water and we can eat the animals and fish who live in the river." 

"I would rather be in the land of my mother's than starving by some heat infested river. Where are the nests to raise our children? Where are the herds for us to hunt? We cannot live on a few fish and stray animals." 

"Well, you can just go home then." said Huroo. 

"Quiet, both of you." said Julu. 

"Julu is right, shut your mouths, I cannot think with your bickering." said Nada. She stretched in the sand. "We are all tired from our journeying. We should rest here awhile. And while you rest, I will journey up the coast or out across the water to see if there is a way across the salt lake." 

"We cannot cross the lake." said Julu. 

"We cannot stay here. This is not the kind of place where our people could live. Surely, Yulunggul would not begrudge us passage through his country. And after all we carry Reidju's name, we are her children. Her country, if her country lies across the sea, would be a paradise to us." 

"I would settle for a good pile of rocks and some decent warmth." said Marindi licking the hide of her youngest hatchling. 

"I would settle for some food." said Jana. 

"But don't you need to gain strength as much as the rest of us, Nada." said Ngaii.   
Nada stared at the water rather than look into Ngaii's bright eyes. "Not really. The distance you have flown is the kind of journey I have been making all my life. I was ready for this, though I did not know that this is what I was preparing for." 

"But of course Nada does not need to rest." Julu rolled his eyes, "She is not like us, she knows the sky paths by magic and is never tired." 

"No, I am tired. But as far as we have come the wanderlust is in my blood. It burns me as mating fire burns away the clouds. I cannot rest. If I must leave you all here to live on this river, I must. I have to know what is on the other side of the salt lake." 

"Since we cannot stop you, I will wish you well, Reidju's anger will be on your head." said Julu, then moving closer he said, "But rest a while. The wounds on your belly were but new healed when we began this journey, and the scars are still pale on the pearl of your belly. I have seen you hold your wing with tenderness. There is no crime in resting awhile. We will send out groups to find the way." 

Nada said nothing to Julu or to anyone for the rest of the day. The next morning she had gone.   
She flew up the coast, chewing on shells and their meat for strength in flight. The sand of the shore blinded her eyes, unlike the sand of the Wanambis, yellow as her skin. The jungle by the shore sucked up the light. She could not rest in the daytime, the sand was too hot, too bright, and the trees were too dark and strange. Another fire burned inside Nada. It was her first season. 

She was now truly an adult. But she had no time for eggs and hatchlings. There was the journey, the finding and the seeking. She knew if she had stayed, she would have flown her mating flight. She would not have been able to resist the call of the males. The fire had made their scent strong and even Julu's smell had become sweet. 

So, she flew North, away from her people. Each day she rested less, flying farther. On the seventh day the coast began to pull away from the North, and when she realized that it was pulling her to the west, she veered North out over the cool water. She let the winds carry her for two days without stopping her flight. Yet, she was so tired that her wings skimmed the water. With each watery caress, she drew away from the water's surface, but soon she again embraced the water. As the sun set on the second day, she fell into the water's embrace and began to dream. 

She sat on the edge of a silver wing, which was cool to the touch. It was so shiny, she could see her reflection in it, like sitting on the surface of a clean pool. The stars above her were very bright. Then a hole of blue fire opened in the sky and a silver creature, of the People, but not, flew down from the hole. He was wrestling with another creature, made from flesh covered with red fur. The fury creature threw the silver Wanambis to the ground and it ceased to glow with blue fire. Then a creature of blue fire came from the hole. It fought with the fur covered creature and killed it. The fire creature threw the dead creature at the wing, which dimpled like water to accept the body, but when Nada looked, she saw only a blue snake, its belly facing the sky, crawling away from her. 

Then the fire creature flew back into the hole. Nada watched the hole and then she flew into it.   
It was so hot that ice was formed on her wings. But the pain felt distant from her body. She felt, though she could not see, great long shapes pulling her through the hole. She came out of the hole and she saw the creatures, great serpents with rainbows for eyes. She knew that she was in the land of Reidju. Their wings were as large as her body and they carried her easily on their backs. Sometimes they flew on the wind, with great strokes of their wings, that sounded like the laughter of the world. Other times they swam on the surface of the water, gliding smoothly through the waves. 

They did not speak so that Nada could understand their words. Their voices were deep as the salt lake, and round as the pearl. They carried Nada to a sandy shore and left booming quiet songs. Nada remembered no more. 

She woke to the sound of high voices and the feel of scales on her skin. She opened her eyes in the face of the smallest Person she had ever seen. It was the size of a child, no more than her tail in length, yet the way it and the others, for the air swarmed with red creatures, touched each other she knew that they were not children. 

"She's awake."   
"Her eyes are open. She must be alive."   
"But sometimes things have open eyes, but they're still dead."   
"But they don't open their eyes, they just lay there and are dead."  
"Well, she's just laying there."   
I'm not dead." laughed Nada. The creatures swarmed away from her and then swarmed back again. "I should be dead. Why didn't I die?"  
"They brought you here."   
"Who?" said Nada.  
"The Great Ones."   
"The Old Ones."   
"The Blue Ones."   
"They brought you from the water. They're from the water."   
"But you're not like them."   
"You look like us."   
"But not really."   
"No, no I don't. Who are you?" said Nada.   
"We are the People."   
"The Mari."  
"The Red Ones."  
My dream. I thought it was real. I thought I was dead." said Nada.   
"Well, you're not. Your talking. Dead things don't talk.   
"Sometimes they do when the wind blows through them."  
"Only when they're bones."  
"So, who are you?"   
"I am Nada of the Wa...Reidju." said Nada. 

"Nada of the WaReidju, why did you fly out on the water, if you can't breathe it?" 

"I can breathe in clear water a little, if I don't move around a great deal, but I cannot breathe the salt water. It hurts to swim in it. I wanted to cross to the other side of the salt lake." said Nada. 

"That's stupid. Why didn't you just use the rocks." 

"What rocks?" said Nada. 

"The big ones."  
"The small ones."   
"The brown and green ones."   
"The ones that go between the lands." 

Nada shifted in the sands, the sun was growing hot, but she did not want to move. "There are rocks between the lands." 

"Of course, lots of them. Pretty big ones too."   
"We travel between the lands all the time."   
"But not right now."  
"Right now we're going to give you food." 

Before Nada could speak the writhing mob of red bodies swirled away and back again, pelting her with fruit. "I can't eat this." 

"Why not, it's food." 

"Not for me it isn't. I eat meat." 

"I don't know, nasty things eat meat."   
"Things that like to eat us."   
"You wouldn't like to eat us would you."   
"Though, the Big Ones eat meat, but it's fish meat."   
"That's different." 

"Fish would be good." said Nada. They swirled away and returned a few at a time to drop shells, star fish, sea weed on her head. Nada ate the shell meat and shells and buried the rest. After she had eaten, Nada fell asleep. She could hear them talking and flying around her, but she could not keep her eyes open. 

She rested with the Mari for nine days, regaining her strength. She felt free of the fire that had driven her up the coast, away from her people. She began to miss them. On the eighth day, Nada lay sleeping under a shady tree. The sun was beginning to set, and soon it would be time to hunt for fish. The Mari lay sleeping all around her body. Niepanow, one of the Mari, was sleeping on Nada's back. His skin was softer than those of her people and Nada enjoyed looking at the redness of Mari skin. 

Because he was looking at Niepanow, she almost did not see the thing creeping out of the trees. Nada licked her teeth, she could not scent its meat in the air, but she knew it was there waiting. She shivered the skin of her back to get rid of Niepanow and wondered how she was going to avoid squashing the Mari around her. Niepanow whirled off her back and back to fly around the clearing. "Why did you do that? I was sleeping." 

Niepanow's noise awoke the other Mari. They darted into the sky, out over the sea. Niepanow continued to circle the trees. His voice was so high that it was difficult for Nada to understand him. She did know that he was hovering very close to the creature. "Get away from there Niepanow." said Nada. "There's something there." And the creature leapt from the brush. It broke Niepanow's skull with its teeth. Nada was still, as it began to eat, but her belly was full of fire. She reared up in the air with her wings and slashed out at the black thing with her long tail. The sharp ridges of her tail bit into the creatures hide, knocking it down. She pinned the creature to the earth with her weight, slashing at its sides with her claws, while her wings gave her balance. It tried to rip her belly with its talons, but Nada cut at its throat with her fangs and it was soon dead. 

She dragged its corpse a little bit away from Niepanow and began to eat. She was very hungry and it had been a long time since she had eaten properly. 

The other Mari hovered around her as she ate, "You killed it."   
"That was quick."   
"Disgusting."  
"Niepanow's dead." 

Nada stopped eating, "I am sorry, I should have protected him." 

The flighty Mari were did not seem excited. "It was his own fault for not paying attention."   
"We will give his body to the sea."   
"That is no proper death ceremony. Let me burn it." said Nada. 

"What is this burning?"   
"Why, we came from the sea."   
"We go back to the sea."   
"Even you came from the sea." 

"The burning comes from the fire that lets me fly." said Nada. 

"We fly because we have wings."   
"Except the things that don't have bodies."   
"They don't need wings."   
"They come from the sea too."   
"The water that gives life comes from the sea."   
"The water that blows death comes from the sea." 

Nada watched the Mari sing a song to the sea before they carried Niepanow's body out over the shoal and then let it fall into the blue water. 

Nada decided to leave the next day. The Mari talked about crossing the water, because the water was coming, but they talked a great deal and made little sense. On the ninth day, they disappeared. Nada decided to follow the stone path across the water without waiting for them to return. She was troubled by differences between herself and the Mari. They were such a funny people, it was easy to laugh at them. But they had not mentioned Niepanow's name since the day of his death, and always sang of the sea.

It took her six days traveling to reach the mainland. She had to fly by twilight, as the sun on the water hurt her eyes. Yet she did not wish to travel in complete darkness, lest she miss the islands. 

When she reached the shore, she turned South in a much better frame of mind than when she had flown North. On the fifth day she saw another of the people flying towards her, it was Huroo.   
"Where have you been. We have been so worried. Ngaii has been eating his tail and even Julu said some nice things about you when Numada said you probably had gone off and gotten yourself killed." 

"It is good to see you too Huroo." said Nada and she listened to Huroo chatter almost nonstop for the next two days. 

On the eighth morning they circled in on the river bank, where the Reidju were living. Huroo yelled the news as they descended and soon as they were on the sand, the Reidju were clustering around Nada. 

Julu stood back from the crowd. "I see you are still alive." 

"Yes." said Nada, "though I would not have been had not the rainbow-serpents, surely our ancestor spirits took me up from the depths of the water and brought me to a safe place. There I became well and learned the way to pass across the water." 

Again the Reidju began to speak excitedly. So, like the Mari, that Nada nipped herself on the side, for they were so unlike in their likeness. When it was quiet she told them of the path across the water and the Mari, who lived on the pathway. 

Ngaii urged Nada to wait and rest before beginning again, but she said that they had wasted too much time already and should be gone before winter came. 

"You have not noticed Path-Finder." said Julu. 

"Noticed what?" said Nada. 

"The days stand still, growing neither longer, nor shorter. We seem to have crossed into another world without noticing." 

Nada shrugged, and on the next day the Reidju began their journey anew. 

The sky was clear the first two days of their journey across the islands. On the third day, the wind grew fierce and dark clouds gathered in the sky, obscuring the sun. The clouds rushed towards the Reidju like a group of the People on a mourning flight, tossing fire into the sky with great sighs. It began to rain so that the water hurt the skin of the Reidju. They took shelter on one of the island mountains. 

The mud was slippery on the hillside and they attempted to shelter under some red rocks. The rain would not stop, it poured for days. They knocked down some trees and leaned them against the rocks, which kept off some of the water. The Reidju could barely hunt. Little Jala of Marindi's get began to cough first phlegm and then blood. Marindi curled around her, to dry her with the warmth of her body, but Jala grew hot and began to scream of bugs crawling on her flesh. Her scales her worn and dim from lying on the dirt so long. When she died, it took Julu and Marindi a long time to burn her body. The Reidju had to knock down more trees to cover Jala from the rain, so that the water would not douse her flame and keep her from returning to Reidju's love. 

"Will it ever stop raining?" said Numada. "We're all going to die." 

"We're not going to die. But we can't stay here. We have no shelter and little food." said Nada. 

"The wind is too strong. It will rip us apart." said Aylupa. 

"Only if you fight it." said Nada. "Let the wind carry you. Use it to push you on your journey." 

"I agree with Nada, let us go on." said Ngaii. 

Julu leaned back on his tail. "You would agree. But I say we should go also. The Windijindi spirits are capricious but not cruel. In the stories, when Bandu was caught in a great storm in Arnhem land, he played with the Windijindi spirits and they let him live. I say we seek other shelter. It is not fitting that the children of Reidju die in a land where she does not show her face." 

"I have lost one child waiting. I too will go." said Marindi. 

So, it was decided and when the wind quieted a bit, the Reidju lifted themselves into it. The wind shoved them about, and the rain bit at their skin, but they did not fight the wind, dancing the mating dance with it. Nada tried not to enjoy the pull of the wind. Its power surrounded her body, pulled her to new places. The Reidju sought shelter when the could, but continued on each day. 

On the thirteenth day of their journey, the wind grew greater than fierce. The sky was full of fire, and the wind pushed them away from the land path they had been following. To fight the wind was to torn to pieces, so the Reidju let the Windijindi spirits carry them out over the water. The night came, and there was no light to guide them on their journey, only the push of the wind. When the sun came to light the gray sky, the Reidju were exhausted. Nada did not see Garhain, whose wing had been broken. She knew that he had fallen from the sky into the waiting sea. She struggled to lift herself higher into the sky. 

Then she saw them. At first, they were just a strange curling mass of blue in the sky. As the wind carried her closer her she knew that they were the rainbow serpents of her dream and her ancestry. They were over two times the size of Nyung, the largest of the Reidju, but thin as serpents in proportion. Their wings were vast as the wind and they were full of grace in flight. Nada knew that the others could see the Rainbow serpents, but the wind was too loud to speak with the others. 

The wind carried the Reidju in among the Rainbow serpents. One skimmed so close to Nada that should could feel its breath on her scales. She saw an eye of sea fire. Then without words, for the wind would have carried any away, as one group the Rainbow serpents held their great wings into their bodies and dived into the tossing sea. Within a few moments the Reidju were carried over the land, leaving the rain behind them. 

The land was flat, and full of forest. The Reidju found a clearing and they piled on top of one another. They rested in the sunlight until they could breath. 

"The Rainbow serpents have blessed our journey, surely we will find a new home." said Marindi, as she nuzzled her get. 

"Yes, but they dived into the water before we came to land, so I believe we have a long way to go." said Julu. 

"Garhain is not here. Perhaps they went to carry him to their mother Reidju." said Jana. 

"When we come to a place to live, we must fully honor those who have passed to Reidju. Let us call this place Nyag, for here the rainbow serpents live. Let us also burn a pyre to Garhain." said Julu. 

"For now we need to move to higher ground. That storm will be coming over the land soon." said Nada. "We can mourn and honor Garhain, when we are safe." 

"I cannot move." said Numada. 

"Then you can stay and watch the rain come." said Huroo. 

Numada snorted and the Reidju lifted themselves into the sky. By sunset, they had come to some low hills. They found a large opening in the hill, with vines hanging down over its mouth. They crawled into the cave and in the morning they woke to see a misty rain falling on the hills. 

"So, now what. We have still not found a place to live, though we have certainly come far from where we came." said Jana. 

"We were not meant for rain." said Numada. 

"We could follow the coast." said Wura, who smiled at Numada. 

"That would mean turning back." said Marindi, she cuddled her children closer. 

"I say we go west." said Nada. 

"That is a good direction." said Ngaii, he looked over Julu's back at Nada. His voice was hopeful. 

"Why not north?" said Numada. 

"The wind is not pushing us that way." said Nada. 

"Nada has led us well, we still live. I say west." said Huroo, he flickered his eyes at Numada. 

"Little Jala and Garhain no longer fly with us. We have been led into the land of the dead." said Numada. 

"If you wish to find the sky path, then you may do so." said Nada. "I did not ask to lead the way." 

"And I did not ask you." said Numada. "I can find a direction at random just as well as you can." 

"Reidju sets in the west. We carry her name." said Julu. "We should follow her. Let us not be distracted among ourselves." 

"I do not need your help, Julu." said Nada. "If Numada thinks she can lead the way, fine." 

"I do not wish to lead the way. They would not follow me. My scales do not glow gold as yours do. I am not as young. But I am not blind like the others." Numada flicked a tail in an irritable motion.

"Numada, I do not need your approval, but I could do without your complaints." Nada's own tail made a circle in the air in the sign of the hunt.

"That is enough Nada." said Julu. He swished his tail into the dirt. 

"I am done. It is time to hunt. I am hungry for food and bones." said Nada as she went out into the rain to hunt. 

They stayed in the cave for three days. They cleared a space in the wet and built a mound of wood. They dried the wood with their breath and then set it to flame. They sang the song of Reidju 

Fire Walking, Fire Flying, Fire in the belly, Fire in the sky, The beginning, the end, Round as Reidju. 

When the fourth morning came, they began to fly west. Some days it rained, while on others the sun shown, but Nada knew in her bones which direction to follow. She could feel the sun behind her eyes, and she followed it. 

There were strange animals in this land. Unlike the creatures that the Reidju knew. Maban was injured killing a great orange and black creature with claws as sharp as Maban's. It was only with Ayulpa's help that Mabda was not the creature's meal. They came to hunt in pairs, to do all things together, all but Nada, who still though she wandered, had the wanderlust. Yet the new creatures did not threaten her and her body was lean from the journey. 

As the jungle gave way to forest, the air grew cooler. The air was also marked with the scent of the People, yet none of the Reidju could see what had made the scent. Nada scouted alone, for long hours in the sky. One day, the rains came again as she was flying. The Windijindi spirits fought each other and gnashed at each other. They threw lightening at unseen bodies and rent the sky with rain like blood, warm on Nada's scales. Nada circled around a vine covered hill and settled in a small clearing on the side of hill. She huddled into the hill for protection. The vines gave way to the pressure of her body and she crawled into the opening. The cave smelled of the People and mildew. 

The walls gave off a cool blue light, quite different from the soft green light falling through the cave opening. 

Nada heard a noise and bared her teeth, remembering the orange and black creature Mabda and Aylupa killed. "What is it. Speak, you smell of the People, but I cannot see you. I would not hurt kin." 

A shadow moved on the wall and took on shape apart from the wall. Nada could barely hear the creature's low voice, "I saw you fly. Have the Peri brought you to take me away. Are you a rakhoshi?" 

Nada's eyes adjusted to the soft light and she saw one of the People, but not for it had no wings. It was somewhat smaller than she, and its scales were a brownish blue, rather like the walls of the cave. From it's head there were two black horns which spiraled like twisting grass. "Who are you?" said Nada. 

"Not a rakhoshi then, or you'd have already eaten me. A pakhiraj then, lost in the storm. I am Pashaboti of Champaka's sway and this is my cave. Though Champaka does not visit me, he prefers Gojmati. Her horns are dark as the rain clouds, and her voice is the cry of the peacock, and her eyes flash with dark sky fire - I can not compare to her. My eyes do not flash with sky fire. I don't even walk with the grace of the red sharee. But I am better off than you, your scales are the color of the winter sun. What are you?" 

"I appear quite normal among my own people. I am Nada of the Reidju, she who is the sun in the sky, our grandmother. It is fitting that I resemble the winter sun, though I hope at least for a summer sky." 

"The summer rain brings life to the land, from which the people come. What would the sun bring." 

"You can fly in it." 

Pashaboti settled herself down onto the floor of the cave, "I cannot fly, Nada of the Sun. What does the sun bring, loneliness, the storm has brought me a companion. Who is your mate, where are your people, why are you here? 

"My people are not far from here. We are journeying from our land, which has grown cold and hard, to seek a new place in which to live." 

"Come, then, let me offer you some food, the rain will keep your Reidju away for awhile." 

Pashaboti turned back on herself and muttered. She turned back to Nada with a lump of meat in one claw. "Will this do, with you teeth so sharp." 

Nada nodded and tore into the meat for she was sore hungry. Her eyes grew heavy, and she was soon asleep, when she awoke she was in a large cavern, which glowed with the blue light. The ceiling disappeared into a hazy blue and had no end. There were several openings into darkness on the walls of the cave. The blue light made the walls crawl with many faces. Nada felt the walls crushing in around her and the faces seemed to leer at her trembling. 

Pashaboti lay curled up on a pile of rushes, she was staring at Nada. "You are awake." 

Nada shook herself, "Where am I." 

"You slept, I brought you to my home. It has been so long since I had a visitor." 

"What makes the walls glow blue." asked Nada, her high voice echoed off the walls." 

"It is a fungus I grow to light my home. It is quite delicious." said Pashaboti. She nipped at the wall, and she pulled a white lump away from the wall. She smiled softly at Nada. 

"Take me back to the surface." said Nada. 

"You're not frightened of the earth are you, sky child? It's what we come from, what we return to when we are done." 

"I feel as if the dirt were trying to eat me." 

"It is." Pashaboti's breath was quick, "What is it like to fly?" 

"It is a fire in the belly. It is light. It is the joy flame you burn on the first fly about, and the emptiness you feel when you leave the people." Nada shifted in the close quarters. 

"That does not sound comfortable, but very exciting. Why have you come to my cave?" Pashaboti's eyes gleamed black in the light. 

"It was raining." Nada stretched her back, wet dirt fell onto her neck. "Could you show me the way out?" "It was destiny, that drove you to my cave. I had prayed for a dark lover to steal into my home, and the storm sent the light of day to me." Pashaboti smiled at Nada. "Look at my art." 

Pashaboti nodded at one wall of her cave. It was covered with the stone replicas of animals. Nada moved toward them. They were perfect in every detail. One of the birds had a broken wing,  
Nada could tell by the angle of its body. "What are these." 

"Oh, I make them. In fact let me show you my latest creation." Pashaboti walked over to one of the apertures, she muttered under her breath, and the opening was lit with blue light. Nada peered into the cavern. Two people of Pashaboti's race lay curled around each other like mated snakes. 

Nada peered at the faint cracks in the males horns. "They are beautiful. I can almost see them breathe." 

"Almost. It is Champaka and Gojmati." Pashaboti circled the curling lovers. "It comforts me to have them here. But now that you're here I think I will get rid of them. They are in the way and you're a far more interesting study." 

Nada swallowed, "I will not be staying." 

Pashaboti leaned close to Nada, Nada could feel Pashaboti's breath on her scales, "But you must stay. I have been so lonely for a companion." 

"I was not designed to live in a cave. I must rejoin my people." Nada backed towards the tunnel. 

"I was not asking you. I did not ask you to come into my cave, but you came. I could have turned you to stone. You would have made an excellent guardian for my door, but your skin burns so and your eyes so fierce." Pashaboti's tongue flickered towards Nada's wing. Nada jumped back. She could hear her heart beating fast. "You are such a child. You have never had a mate have you." 

"I just want to fly." said Nada. 

"I'm sure you do." Pashaboti moved back a step. "It will not be so bad. I will feed you well, and tell you many stories." Pashaboti cocked her head at Nada. "Do you not find my shape pleasing. Champaka found me pleasing when I came to him as Gojamati. For that matter Gojmati found me pleasing when I came to her as Champaka." Pashaboti's shape shimmered in the dim light. Her skin turned a golden yellow and her horns fell away. She grew large like Nada. It was odd to see one of the people without wings. And then Pashaboti looked odder still when she became rather obviously a he. 

Nada could hear her heart hammering in her chest. This was like something in a story of the Dreaming. It was one thing to know that long ago Yulunggul the first rainbow serpent had changed gender and shape at will. But to see one of the people actually do it made Nada sick to her stomatch. 

Also the cave was hot and the air was thick with smells. Nada felt the pressure of the earth all around her. When Pashaboti stepped so close that Nada could smell her/his scent, Nada felt the world grow dark. Nada jumped back and smashed Pashaboti's head with her tail. There was a thin stream of blood from Pashaboti's head. Nada did not stop to look at Pashaboti, but ran down one of the tunnels. 

She slowed to a walk, after what seemed days of running. When it grew to small to walk on her legs, she used her pinions for support. The walls grew dim, and Nada had trouble seeing. She knew she had not acted wise, for now she was lost beneath the earth. She closed her eyes and felt for the pull of the earth and the sun. They were there behind her eyes. She followed the path they showed her. Her back hurt, and her pinions ached under the unaccustomed strain. Her heart was heavy, she had never attacked one of their own people before. 

After many turns Nada found herself at the edge of some water. The light was all gone now. Nada slipped into the water, letting it move around her, cleaning her. She followed the light behind her eyes. When she emerged from the water she was in a vast cavern.   
Here the air was fresh and though Nada could see no exit. She heard a soft scuttling noise. "Whose there?" she said, prepared to fight if she had been followed. 

The scuttling stopped. "You are not Pashaboti." said a voice like grinding rocks. 

"No, I am not. Tell me where am I and how can I get to the surface." 

Footsteps came closer and she felt many hands touching her body. "There is only one way to the surface, that is through Pashaboti's cavern. Did she make you too, or are you one of the ones that she killed when she came to this place." 

"I am Nada of Reidju. Djauala was my mother and I was hatched far from here. Did she make you? Are there many of you here?" 

"There are many and she made us for her pleasure, to serve her, so that she need not take on a shape with hands. We live down here awaiting her summons. We carried you into her cave. Why are you here."

"She said she wished to keep me here and I struck her and ran." 

The hands pulled back. Another voice said, "And you are not dead yet!" 

"I may have killed her." said Nada. 

"No, she is not dead, " said the first voice. "we would feel it if she were. But you are as good as dead. Now she will kill you." 

"There are many of us, together we could kill her." said Nada. "I will not die like prey. I am Reidju's child." 

"She cannot be killed, but whoever's child you are. She has the power of shapes and she can make things that live. She has the power of change." 

"I will burn her with my fire." 

"That will not work. She will lose her body and be unharmed." 

"Surely there is some way to harm her." 

"No, she keeps her life hidden in a beryl nut, which none can find. The only way to kill her is to crush it, but you will not find it. Beg her forgiveness, she will only hurt you a little." 

"I cannot, I will die fighting if I must, but I will find the beryl nut.." 

"We will take you back to her cave, if you wish, but we cannot help you any further. To speak with you is to risk her anger. She can unmake what she has made." 

She followed the creature's footsteps back through the water and the tunnels, until they came to the edge of the cavern of Pashaboti. She caught a glimpse of stone limbs and a gray lump of head, before the creature slipped back into the shadows. 

Nada crept into the cave, there was no sign of Pashaboti. She searched among all the stone figures and in all the bits of the room. With little fires she looked in the passage ways, but she could not see the beryl nut. There were tunnels aplenty, but she felt dizzy when she looked at them.

Then one of the statues began to move. Or maybe it was the light. No it was a serpent. The serpent uncoiled from where it was laying on Gojamati or was it Champaka. Nada couldn't remember.The serpent flicked its tongue, "I am Nag." it said.

"I am Nada of Reidju."

"I know." said the serpent. It coiled up one of the stone dragons horns. "Aren't you going to ask me about the stone?"

"What stone? Perhaps, you'd like to know about the way ahead, Nada of Reidju ne' Wanambis." The serpent stretched on its stony perch and spread its hood. It had a strange pattern, like eyes. 

"You get three."

"Three what?" Nada was tired and confused and her head hurt.

"Two now, questions. What do you want to know. You need to know a great deal. But you can deal with most of it. You already have." The serpent began to wind back down around itself. 

"Better stick to the stone."

"What stone?"

"And there was one. The beryl stone. The nut the Peri Pashaboti keeps its soul in." The   
serpent dropped to the ground and began to slide into a hole in the wall.

"Wait. Where is it? Where is the beryl stone?"

The serpent's voice drifted back, "Look above your head. I would hurry."

There was a sound of footsteps. Nada filled her air sacks with fire and lifted up off the floor towards the ceiling. She went up high. She saw a strange hairy creature walk into the room, it was confusion to look upon it. It was covered with lights and colors and limbs. Nada felt ill. She looked at the ceiling's edge, there was a tiny hole. With one pinion she reached into the hole and pulled from it a small stone. She could not be sure if it was the beryl nut. She did not want to test it at random. 

She lowered herself behind Pashaboti. "This is your last chance to set me free." 

The creature turned and transformed itself into the person that Nada had seen before. "You hurt me. I am going to have to hurt you now. I will not kill you though, for you warm my interest. Do not struggle. You will only injure yourself more." 

"I will not let you keep me here." said Nada, "Allow me to leave now, or we must fight." 

"Then we shall fight. I will be gentle." Pashaboti rippled into the orange and black creature that Maban had fought. Nada placed the stone in her mouth and began to chew. It would not break. She slashed a claw at the creature. It sprang at her, rending her belly. She dared not open her mouth. They rolled on the floor, Nada pressed the creature back. Its teeth grazed her neck. 

The stone broke and the creature gave a cry and disappeared. 

Nada decided to leave quickly. She did not like this place. She closed her eyes and chose the tunnel that she felt was right. After a short while, she stood in the entry cave. The sun was still up and the rain still fell. She flew back to her camp. She told no one of Pashaboti. She felt unclean. When Ngaii fussed over her absence and her wounds, she snapped angry words at him, which took much speech to soothe. She sometimes dreamed of dark eyes in the days that came after. 

The Reidju journeyed Westward, and the land grew thick with water. The smell was of growing things emerging from the bodies of the dead. It repelled Nada and the others. It was difficult for them to stand coming close to the earth and the still water. It rained everyday, and the wind carried them forward. The slept in the trees, unable to find land. Numada was not the only one who grumbled, though no one could deny that game was plentiful by the waters. On the third night, they came to rest on a small island in a river. The grass shivered with life. 

No sooner had they settled into the grass, when twenty or so creatures swarmed out of the trees. They were small as Marindi's get, yet they were not awkward. They were gray green, but Nada noticed their mouths full of teeth, as they set to attack the party. Five of them fell on Wadju, who had been sleeping a little apart from the rest. Nada batted one off of Wadju, but she could see it was too late. They were too quick for the Reidju to fight. They flitted among the Reidju, biting and slashing. "Get into the air above the trees. We can not fight on the ground." Marindi flushed her young into the sky and then hovered beneath them. The others soon followed. Several of the creatures chased the Reidju above the trees, but here the Reidju could move. Mabda flapped his wings, and a creature was knocked sideways by the air current and was struck to the earth by Maban's tail. Nada ripped the head of one from its body with her claws. The creatures retreated to the earth. The Reidju began to fly west. 

The morning found them away from the swamps and into a low range of hills. "What were those creatures?" asked Marindi as she licked the cuts her youngest side. 

"I have never heard of any creature like them." said Julu. 

"Yes, you have. They were Djuguld." said Nada. She curled up into her tail. 

"You speak nonsense." said Numada. "The Djuguld are gone and certainly never looked like that." 

"No, I speak the only sense. We have met people of sea, and jungle, and now swamp. We were attacked by those who dwell in the place which we are not to enter, those to whom we are never to speak. They tried to kill us." 

"You are trying to distract us from the fact that we went west and Wadju is dead. Another funeral pyre for Nada." 

"It was not Nada's fault. It was mine." said Julu. "We should have posted guards. But we were lax. Have too long been the mightiest creatures in our land. We no longer in our land. We must be careful. I bear Wadju's death on myself." 

"Let us not speak of fault." said Marindi. "Let us mourn Wadju, and move on. If we do not keep on, we will never find where we are going." Marindi hugged her get to her sides. 

"As, you say Marindi. Let us rest, with guards and continue on the morrow." said Nada. They attempted to rest, but many the Reidju were too exited do more than lie in the grass. They built a small pyre for Wadju, but they did not sing and on the next day they began to fly once more. 

The mountains grew higher, but the rains came less, and were more gentle. Once more Nada caught the scent of salt and once more the Reidju came to the sea, but this time it was thin strip of salty water and the Reidju could see land on the other side. The Reidju landed on the shore and looked across the water. 

"I say we go across the water." said Nada. 

"What about the west." said Numada. "That is South, the way we came from." 

"It is the way to go. I can smell it." said Nada. 

"Smell what." said Numada. She arched her pinions into her back. 

"The grass. It is waiting for us." 

"Do you really think so?" said Huroo. 

"Yes." said Nada.

"There is no reason to change direction." said Julu. 

"Think of it as crawling back into the egg, Julu. We have reached the other world." 

"Several times over I should think. I am too tired to argue. Let us cross the water. If in three days the land does not become as it we need it, then we go west." 

"South it is then, agreed." said Nada. The Reidju nodded their agreement. They flew into the air with a renewed purpose, confident that Nada would lead them to their new home. Had she not led them to a land where the days again grew long. 

They crossed the water and came to a new set of mountains. These mountains were low, and full of lakes. It was not even nightfall, by the time the land gave way to rippling fields of grass. The Reidju nested in the grass. Huroo swirled in circles and Marindi's get chased each other as if they had not flown all day. 

The next morning the Reidju split up into parties to find a suitable place to live. The land was full of game, though strange in shape and size and no day passed that several new animals were brought back to eat. On the third day, Nada found a low plateau covered with rock piles. The rocks formed a series of natural shelters. There was a small clear area in the center and at the foot of the plateau was a lake of clear blue. Nada watched the fish swim in the lake. She dived into the water and let the dirt wash from her. She lay still and let the water enter her. Then she crawled from the lake and returned to her people. That night the Reidju rested in their new home. 

They pushed the rocks into higher shapes and burned mud between them with their breath to hold these shapes. They performed the Ur ritual singing and sweeping the earth with their tails. 

They named their home KaReidju, for it was the Reidju's home, and that was the name they took for themselves. At night they flew the mourning flight, for those who had gone. They brought grass from the plain to lie upon. It was soon a home. They saw no other people in this new land. 

On the seventh day, they rested and held a corrombee among themselves. It was a good life in this new land. There was more game, and what animals lived there were varied. Nada again had no role. She no longer led the way, she had never spoken the law. The plains beckoned to her, and the fire burned in her belly. She felt ashamed to still long for flight. When any spoke to her of her flights or asked her advice, she spoke sharp and quick with them. 

So she flew away in the night, not for long. She returned, but she left again. Each leaving was a little longer. The Reidju knew better than to keep her. After a time it was years between returning. 

Ngaii flew Aylupa. Julu grew old and wise. And Nada was always full of stories. She had returned to their homeland and found nothing. Only bones lay in the land of their people. She met shy people in the lands to the west, who lived by night. She met many creatures, by the sea. The world grew and was strange in her presence. 

She was viewed as quite strange and solitary, herself. After a time she did not return, but the Reidju remembered her and as they spread across the land, they sang of her name and her wanderings.

**Author's Note:**

> If after reading my fiction here, you would like to read more about me and my writing check out my profile.


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